Up In Flames (Club Chrome 3)

Angel was racked with sobs, so much so that he couldn’t help but gather her into his arms like a baby. “I’m glad you came back,” he told her softly. “We’ll face this together. I swear you don’t have to do this alone. This loser is going to wish he’d never messed with you, sweetheart.”

“You don’t understand,” she said with a hiccup. “There’s things I haven’t told you…things that…” he waited anxiously, hoping this was when she came clean but she choked back whatever she’d been on the verge of sharing and finished with a watery, “I’m sorry. My life is a messed up shit pile and I never should’ve involved you.”

He lifted her chin to meet her gaze. “I’m the one who messed up your life. Give me the chance to make it right in the only way I know how.”

Angel whimpered in the back of her throat and gave a minute shake of her head but didn’t say anything more. His heart sank when he realized she still didn’t trust him enough with the full truth but he didn’t press her. All he knew was that he wasn’t going to let her face this asshole alone. He was going with her and he was packing heat. If anyone dared touch Angel, they’d end up eating lead.

That was a promise.

***

Angel lay awake long after Pyro had crashed, staring at the ceiling, replaying the phone call with Benton in her mind. It was after she’d left the apartment complex and was walking aimlessly down streets she barely remembered when her cell rang. When she saw the number, she answered with her heart in her throat, praying to God that Mila was still safe.

“Hey baby,” Benton said cheerfully as if he weren’t the devil incarnate. “How’s my girl?”

“I’m not your fucking girl and don’t ever call me that again,” she said in a low tone. “Where’s Mila? You better not touch a hair on her head or I swear to God, I’ll fucking kill you.”

He chuckled as if her threats amused him and then said, “Watch your mouth, you dirty whore or I’ll wash your mouth out with my dick. Not that I wouldn’t put it past you to use your teeth.”

She certainly would. She’d rip it off and spit it out if he ever was dumb enough to put his dick near her mouth. “Where’s my baby?” she repeated in a low tone. “I want to talk to Mila.” Benton sighed and then she heard the sounds of her daughter crying in the background. Instant tears sprang to her eyes as she covered her mouth, trying not to scream. “Why is she crying? What did you do to her?”

“Relax, mother hen. She’s fine. Now, back to business. Did you manage to fulfill your end of the bargain?”

She gripped the phone more tightly. “Yes. Pyro is coming with me. What are you going to do to him?”

“What do you care?” Benton asked sharply as if the question annoyed him. “Your job isn’t to care about what happens after your part of the deal is done. That’s your problem babe, you’re too focused on the shit that doesn’t matter. You should work on that.”

Bile rose in her throat. If he called her babe one more time… “Let’s get this over with. Where am I meeting you and what time?”

“The old shoe factory, eight o’clock. I believe you know the place?”

Her nostrils flared with pure hatred. Benton knew she had bad memories of that place, which is precisely why he’d chosen it. What a fucking bastard. “Yeah, I know the place.”

“Great. So, yeah, bring your buddy Pyro and I’ll bring the kid, we’ll do the exchange and then we’ll go our separate ways. Sound good?”

She knew he was lying. He wasn’t going to let her go. She knew too much about his operation. Sweat slicked her upper lip. “How do I know you’ll let us go?” she asked.

He laughed. “You don’t. I guess you’ll have to trust me.”

And then the line went dead. Trust him? She’d have much better luck trusting a viper not to strike.

She had no one to help her. The one person who wanted to help was the one she was about to betray. “I’m so sorry, Pyro,” she whispered, gazing at his profile in the darkness, wishing with all her heart that things were different. She’d give anything to be able to walk away from this situation with Mila and Pyro instead of having to choose between one or the other. Chances were high, they were all going to die tomorrow.

And she didn’t know what to do to change that.

-12-

Bronx told Pyro to meet him at the clubhouse around noon the next day and Pyro did just that, although he was anxious about leaving Angel alone.

“I’ll be fine, stop hovering,” Angel said wearily when he hesitated to leave.

“Will you be here when I get back?”

“Yes,” she answered with a sigh then gestured for him to go. “I promise. Pick up some more crackers when you come back. My stomach is in knots.”

Pyro pressed a kiss to her forehead and reluctantly left her behind. He could only hope that she wasn’t lying and that she’d be there when he returned.

He walked into the clubhouse and went straight to the backroom, which served as an office. Bronx was already there, waiting.

“We have information that you might want to know,” Bronx said, going straight to the point. “We did some checking and Jazzy isn’t in the system. The kid has vanished. There isn’t even a report filed about her mother’s death.”

Pyro put two and two together, openly speculating. “Why wouldn’t a cop file a report? Unless they didn’t want a paper trail…mom disappears, a junkie, no one notices that the kid goes missing, too. Shit…are we talking human trafficking?”

Bronx nodded. “That’s the conclusion we came to.”

Pyro felt sick. “And you want to know what Angel’s connection to all this is, right?”

“The thought came to mind.”

“I don’t know but whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not voluntary. She’s been throwing up since this morning. She’s a wreck.”

“Well, we can both agr

ee that you’re walking into a trap of some sort, so we’ve come up with an idea to spring a different sort of trap on the dirty cops and Benton,” Bronx said but Pyro didn’t want his friend sticking his neck out on his behalf and shot him down.

“Look man, I appreciate everything you’re doing by nosing around but I don’t want any of this shit to land on you or your family. These people are playing hardball and I’m not going to ignore the danger. I did that once and it got Ashley and my son killed. I’m not about to lose my best friend, too.”

Bronx clapped him on the shoulder with a smirk that was completely inappropriate given the gravity of the situation and said, “Stop being such a pussy and let me worry about my own ass. Besides, I’m not going in without back-up. We’ve got a pretty solid plan. I have to give Zoe props for thinking of it.”

“Great! Now Zoe is involved, too?” He glowered. “I think it was better when the Dogs and Kings were mortal enemies.”

“Stop your whining and listen to this plan…it’s a good one.” Bronx proceeded to detail a plan to save their asses and put the bad guys away but Pyro knew that even the best-laid plans could backfire and that’s when people got killed. He didn’t want another death on his conscience. He didn’t think he could handle the burden.

“So what time is the meeting?” Bronx asked.